1.
The role of higher education in society: valuing higher education - Badat, S.
[from the introduction]
Arthur E. Levine, President of the Teachers College of Columbia University, writes that "In the early years of the Industrial Revolution, the Yale Report of 1828 asked whether the needs of a changing society required either major or minor changes in higher education. The report concluded that it had asked the wrong question. The right question was, What is the purpose of higher education?" Levine goes on to add that questions related to higher education “have their deepest roots in that fundamental question” and that “faced with a society in motion, we must not only ask that...

2.
The challenges of education and development in twenty-first century South Africa - Badat, S.
[from the introduction] I have chosen to address the theme of The Challenges of Education and Development in the Twenty First Century. This is not only an extremely important theme but also one that is both complex and broad and can be approached in many different ways. With respect to complexity, the concepts of education and development, like the concepts of freedom and democracy, are defined in various ways and have a variety of meanings associated with them. Moreover, notions of education and development are not neutral in that they are embedded in different views of the world and society,...

3.
De La Rey rides (yet) again : Afrikaner identity politics and nostalgia in post-apartheid South Africa - Baines, G.
[From the introduction] In 2006 a relatively unknown South African artist with the stage name Bok van Blerk released his debut album called “De la Rey”. The album included a music video of the title track that calls upon the legendary Boer War general to save the volk (people) from the wantonly destructive strategies of the British imperial forces: the scorched earth policy and the subsequent internment of women and children in concentration camps. The British justified such extreme – some would say ‘genocidal’ – strategies so as to prevent non-combatants from supporting the irregular Boer soldiers. Although he did...

4.
Mentoring and prospects for teacher development - a South African perspective - Probyn, M.J.; van der Mescht, H.
School-based mentoring has developed in response to a number of factors pertaining to the pre-service education of student teachers and the in-service professional development of experienced teachers. Traditionally teacher education has consisted of university-based theory with school-based practice, based on an understanding of professional learning as ‘theory into practice’. One of the problems with this model is that theory may come to seem too remote from practice, and that practice appears untheorised by remaining implicit and unproblematised.
The one-year teachers’ diploma course offered by the Rhodes University Education Department incorporates a ten-week teaching practice slot. This protracted period has been useful...

5.
Creating a virtual classroom: evaluating the use of online discussion forums to increase teaching and learning activities - Bezuidenhout, L.P.
In teaching large classes, the educationally beneficial informal interaction between students and between lecturer and students is generally reduced, while effective use of both students’ and lecturer’s time is often a challenge.
During student consultations, especially over the already stressful test and examination periods, many of the questions asked by the students are the same or similar. The lecturer needs to respond to each query by providing the same detailed explanation for the problem, resulting in ineffective use of time for the lecturer, while students waste time waiting for an appointment, or more often, simply don’t bother to follow up...

6.
Overcoming marginalisation? Open Access research repositories at a South African and a Swedish University - Fox, R.C.; Wihlborg, E.; Lawrence, D.
Open Access Research Repositories have developed very rapidly since c2000 as a global phenomenon in their number, their location, the number and type of resources available in them. The creation of institutional repositories has been affected by different motives. They can serve as collections of a University's research output with the intention of making it 'freely' available. We ask here, just what patterns of access can be analysed, what trends do we see when examining our two institutions? Alternatively they can be seen as ways to raise the research profile of individuals and institutions and citation records. We do not...

7.
Learning about Sustainability through Experiencing Complex, Adverse Conditions Typical of the South: Reflections from the African Catchment Games Played in Finland 2008 - Fraenkel, Linda Anne; Fox, R.C.
The African Catchment Game is an innovative role playing game which was played twice in Finland in 2008 as part of the CIMO funded collaboration between Finland Futures Research Centre and Rhodes University. It simulates a "real imaginary country" and enables participants to explore and experience how southern countries may or may not develop scenarios of sustainable resource extraction and consumption. New processes modelling climatic variability, water management and consumption were introduced for these two game runs. This imaginary country has roles for an urban/industrial sector, the informal sector, trading intermediaries, overseas trade, a government comprised of a president and...

8.
The trajectory, dynamics, determinants and nature of institutional change in post-1994 South African higher education - Badat, S.
[Introduction] The institutional change agenda in post-1994 South African higher education has been extensive in its objects, ambitious in its goals, and far-reaching in nature. Given its scope, it is not possible here to critically analyse change in all its dimensions or in all arenas. Instead, this paper confines itself to analysing the trajectory, dynamics, outcomes and determinants of institutional change in South African higher education since 1994, and concludes with observations on the nature of change.

9.
Motion arrested : body politics and the struggle for a physical theatre - Gordon, G.E.
[From the text]: Physical theatre does have a political agenda but it is not to provide a counter argument in terms of the body/mind divide. It utilises this encompassing approach to argue for the legitimacy and potential of the body and to counteract the argument for the supremacy of the mind over the body. The body is mobilised as a source of power to question conventional views on race, gender, sexual stereotyping and sexuality. This new "physicality" should not be viewed as a negation of the word, the text or the rational, but should be seen rather as an integration...

10.
Creating a virtual classroom: evaluating the use of online discussion forums to increase teaching and learning activities in an introductory accounting class - Bezuidenhout, L.P.
In teaching large classes, the educationally beneficial informal interaction between students and between lecturer and students is generally reduced, while effective use of both students' and lecturer's time is often a challenge. During student consultations, especially over the already stressful test and examination periods, many of the questions asked by the students are the same or similar. The lecturer needs to respond to each query by providing the same detailed explanation for the problem, resulting in ineffective use of time for the lecturer, while students waste time waiting for an appointment, or more often, simply don't bother to follow up...

11.
Impediments to the delivery of socioeconomic rights in South Africa - Roodt, M.J.
[from the Introduction]
The purpose of including Second and Third Generation (STG) rights in a constitution is to provide guidelines to lawmakers to formulate policy and to enable the courts to intervene where these policies are not being implemented satisfactorily. In theory these rights allow citizens to demand from the state access to basic needs, such as adequate land, housing, education, health care, nutrition, and social security. However, this inclusion of rights in the constitution often does not translate into action. The first reason for this is that Second and Third Generation rights may clash with First Generation rights. For example...

12.
Grahamstown film and heritage as reflected by His Majesty's building - Still-Drewett, F.
Grahamstown Film and Heritage as reflected by His Majesty's Building. The building of His Majesty's theatre has had and continues to have an influential and varied history in the town of Grahamstown. The heritage of the building is linked both to its historical purpose and role in the community, and with the imposing architectural features and central locality. In this oral history project HMT became a vehicle for researching broader issues. The following issues arose: the effects of apartheid policy in entertainment areas; the arrival of national franchises and resultant tensions of preservation of building and cultural heritage versus economic...

13.
Media consumption and everyday life - Strelitz, L.N.
I see this inaugural lecture as an opportunity to trace my journey into the field of media studies, showing how significant youthful experiences with the media set me off on my particular research trajectory. In this address I will use the umbrella term ‘mass media’ to cover both the traditional news media as well as forms of popular culture such as soap operas, popular music and so on. Sometimes we use the terms ‘popular culture’ and ‘mass media’ interchangeably as they both constitute the cultural life of ordinary people.

14.
Using assessment and reflexive teaching practices
to inform and guide changes to the teaching and learning activities in Introductory Accounting - Bezuidenhout, L.P.
Teaching accounting to first year university students in higher education institutions is becoming increasingly complex as we deal with increasing class sizes, increasing diversity and a student body which appears to be less inclined to study without external motivating factors, while to be successful in studying accounting requires more than passive learning.
Our aim was to make our students active participants in their accounting studies.
After studying established research into assessment and approaches to student learning, changes were made to our course to ensure increased and active participation from our students. Critical to this change was guiding students in making the...

15.
Reflections on the supervision of postgraduate research in Accounting Departments - Stack, E.M.
The need to enhance the research profile of accounting departments and schools of accounting at South African universities and to increase the number of students engaging in postgraduate studies mirrors the challenges faced by universities in Australia and the United Kingdom two decades ago. Coupled with these imperatives is the recognition of the need for supervisor training in accounting departments and schools of accounting and the lack of opportunities for gaining experience in postgraduate research supervision due to the small number of students in the accounting field wishing to undertake research-based studies.
This article reviews relevant literature on training for the...

16.
Taxation and electronic commerce - Stelloh, M.; Stack, E.M.
Transactions conducted using the Internet have expanded dramatically in the past few years and countries and their governments have become concerned about the consequences that electronic commerce may have on their tax revenues. Because of this many organisations and inter-governmental agencies have met to try to design a solution that will be compatible with the systems of the various countries and achieve tax neutrality. A number of proposals were made and discussed to try to design a fair and efficient e-tax system. The proposed system that is ultimately adopted must consider different tax bases and systems in order to achieve...

17.
An investigation into the time-saving benefits of using a computerised taxation program - Forster, R.; Stack, E.M.
Software programs designed to calculate the tax liability of individuals and other types of tax entity are being designed and used with increasing frequency. Research done in the United States of America appears to indicate that these programs do not achieve any saving in time and, in fact, may take longer to use than to complete a tax return by hand. As the South African revenue collection system appears to be moving closer to a self-assessment system, where the calculation of tax owing will be the responsibility of the taxpayer, the research essay sets out to determine whether there is...

18.
Location and mapping of 2.4 GHz RF transmitters - Wells, Daniel David.; Siebörger, I.G.; Irwin, Barry Vivian William
This paper describes the use of a MetaGeek WiSpy dongle in conjunction with custom developed client-server software for the accurate identication of Wireless nodes within an organisation. The MetaGeek WiSpy dongle together with the custom developed software allow for the determination of the positions of Wi-Fi transceivers to within a few meters, which can be helpful in reducing the area for physical searches in the event of rogue units. This paper describes the tool and methodology for a site survey as a component that can be used in organisations wishing to audit their environments for wireless networks.
The tool produced...

19.
Mapping the location of 2.4 GHz transmitters to achieve optimal usage of an IEEE 802.11 network - Wells, Daniel David.; Siebörger, I.G.; Irwin, Barry Vivian William
This paper describes the use of a low cost 2.4 GHz spectrum analyser, the MetaGeek WiSpy device, in conjunction with custom developed client-server software for the accurate identification of 2.4 GHz transmitters within a given area. The WiSpy dongle together with the custom developed software allow for determination of the positions of Wi-Fi transmitters to within a few meters, which can be helpful in reducing the work load for physical searches in the process of surveying the Wi-Fi network and geographical area. This paper describes the tool and methodology for a site survey as a component that can be used...

20.
Coming to terms with the "Border War" in post-apartheid South Africa - Baines, G.
[from introduction] If you are a white, male South African between the ages of about 35 and 60 it is very likely that you donned the nutria brown uniform of the South African Defence Force (SADF). Between 1967 and 1994 approximately 300 000 young white males were conscripted by the SADF. As far as most of these conscripts were concerned, there was no option other than heeding the call-up and performing national service or diensplig. Failure to do so meant harsh penalties. The alternatives were to object on conscientious (actually religious) grounds and face a six year jail sentence, or...